A morning at the South Devon Railway - Buckfastleigh

We already rode on the steam railway from Paignton to Kingswear earlier this year and yesterday we visited another one, the South Devon Railway which runs from Buckfastleigh to Totnes. The Buckfastleigh end is less than a half hour walk from our current campsite and we had thought about getting the train to Totnes. The £15 return trip ticket price (£14 for Dave) put us off though so we just visited the restored station instead. Including exploring the museum, gardens and Riverwalk took us a good couple of hours so we wer glad we hadn't rushed straight onto the train and away!

South Devon Railway was hosting a special 1960s themed weekend, part of which was their Buckstock Festival. We didn't have tickets for that, of course, but could hear a live band pumping out hits of the era and got to admire a couple of vintage buses and a trio of mod scooters parked out the front. Two displayed Torbay Mods Scooter Club stickers and the three looked fab as they zoomed past us later in the day.

If you visit Buckfastleigh station, make sure to take a walk around the little museum which has a wealth of artefacts relating to the line's history. We were lucky to get into conversation with the man operating an incredibly detailed model of Ashburton station as it was in the early 1930s. We learned about how busy the route had been with goods trains as well as passenger trains, and the thriving industries that no longer exist. Other exhibits include signage, paintings, photographs and small engines. There were free range eggs for sale there too! We didn't buy eggs, but did take advantage of the homemade cake and pie stall nearby!

One of the Moor Otters 

Crossing over the footbridge gives a great overview of the station, almost making it feel like a model itself! Just on the other side at the moment is a distinctive gold-coloured sculpture of an otter which is being displayed as part of The Moor Otters fundraising campaign. Auratus by Paul Bursnall is one of 100 decorated otters that are being displayed around Dartmoor gateway towns and in other surprise locations. Anyone spotting at least twenty of them can enter a competition to win prizes including cream teas, meals and hotel stays. Further details are on the Moor Otters website. Afterwards the otters will be auctioned to raise funds for vital Dartmoor conservation work.

We found bigger model trains on the garden railway loop, one puffing steam gave us a whistle as it passed by. I spotted another sculpture of a large dragonfly as we made our way back and headed towards the Riverwalk which is a lovely tranquil space on the edge of South Devon Railway's land. We thought we would be able to return to the road and walk home from here, but unfortunately the Riverwalk peters out into private access gardens so we had to retrace our steps - we did get double the tranquillity though.

Walking Dartmoor from Shipley Bridge

As my Literary Flits bookreview of Walk! Dartmoor published itself yesterday, Dave and I were just setting out on the last of its suggested routes, Number 40: Avon Dam and Red Lake Quarry. We began by parking at Shipley Bridge where there is a small car park (£1 donation towards upkeep) just south of the Avon Reservoir. We got lucky with a space as it was already pretty full and indeed by the time we returned cars were parked out on the road and verges as well.

The route is very easy to begin with. It is a narrow tarmac road which goes up to the striking sight of Avon Dam. We passed lots of people on this first section including families with young children because, while the scenery of green trees and babbling brook is beautiful, it is also perfectly surfaced for pushchairs! I was disappointed to also see evidence of irresponsible dog owners. Two had bagged their dog's poo and then left the bags lying around for 'someone else' to clear away and, despite several signs requsting dogs be kept on leads during lambing and nesting season, two-thirds of the dogs I saw were running loose.

A track forks uphill before the dam and immediately becomes less well-used as it is not surfaced. It leads alongside the reservoir and allowed us the first of numerous gorgeous views across the valley. The dam itself is rather a shock! In the midst of natural greenery there is suddenly an enormous wall. Built in the 1950s, its purpose is to provide drinking water to towns situated in the lowlands. We wondered if it is used to create hydroelectric power too, but apparently not.

We continued alongside the reservoir until it narrowed back to a stream and the ground became very boggy. Faced with a stone wall and gates, we knew we had to go straight ahead, but couldn't get to the gate for the bog. It later turned out that had we kept tight to the stream bank on our left we could have kept dry and hopped over a stile cunningly disguised in a fence section. Instead we aimed right where a brook tumbles down the hill, eventually managing to ford this a hundred yards or so uphill.

Clapper bridge 

Back on the right route again, our next obstacle was that stream. It does have a ford located just as it bends to the right, however there must have been significant rain on Dartmoor as it was fast flowing so we took the clapper bridge option instead. This bridge is about 300 yards upstream from the ford - the path leads directly to it.

So brook and stream forded and boots still pretty much dry, we sallied forth up an old mining track - a gert. I could see the silhouettes of Petre's cross and another stone marker up on the hill directly ahead of us although our path curved to the right and then back around to circumvent the steep end of a small valley. Unfortunately just as we got near the crest this happened:

It's quite unnerving to be walking on a clear day one minute and to find yourself inside a cloud the next! Our route had a short out-and-back detour to Red Lake Quarry which we had already decided not to take, however right at this point we were struggling to see anything more than about ten yards away! Fortunately, with a combination of Ordnance Survey map, guide book and compass we located Petre's Cross.

Petre's Cross 

Unfortunately, on continuing we then found ourselves approaching what appeared to be a huge stone submarine, looming out of the mist! This is actually the Eastern White Barrow or Whittabarrow, a Bronze Age cairn which was enlarged at a later date into the landmark it is today. We didn't know that at the time of course. I googled it later. At the time we just knew that our guide book didn't mention any submarines, stone or otherwise, so we were going the wrong way. Oops!

Eastern White Barrow 

We weren't far off where we should have been. We had set out from Petre's Cross on too easterly a path, so now struck off south to find the disused tramway that we should have been following. In hindsight this was pointless as, even if we had crossed the tramway (and we might have done) it looks remarkably similar to any other track across Dartmoor so we were unlikely to have recognised its true history. We ended up on a compromise route that progressed, I think, in various degrees of parallel-ness to our guide book's suggestions.

Black Tor 

The mist began to clear as we crossed Brent Moor and we got to appreciate the dramatic rocks of Black Tor close up and were relieved to spot the tarmac track to Avon Dam way below - down a steep ridge and across the river! Fortunately descending the Shipley Bridge side of Black Tor was relatively simple and, again, had we been further over we would have been following another disused tramway. Dartmoor is riddled with them!

We were never very lost and Dave was always confident of the direction in which we needed to head, if not the exact don't-they-all-look-similar track we needed to follow. It was easy to imagine though how people could get easily turned around and end up marching out into the middle of the moors, not realising their mistake until too late. The experience was a tad scary for a while!

Small boyfriend on a big moor 

Our visit to sunny Salcombe

Shell doorway 

We decided to pay a visit to the South Hams town of Salcombe yesterday, our reasoning being that it would probably be less manic on the Friday of a Bank Holiday weekend than it would be on the Saturday. We began at the Park And Walk car park which, like at Sidmouth, is at the top of the hill. Salcombe's costs £3 for a day (or £3.03 if you don't have the right change and pay by mobile). It's then an pretty 15 minute walk into the waterside centre (allow 20 minutes to get back!). We both loved the pictured doorway, liberally adorned with seashells, which is just past the town museum.

Salcombe has a wealth of independent shops and businesses, many of which cater to more affluent residents and visitors. We noticed that a significant proportion of the houses hereabouts are holiday lets and I liked this advertising tricycle. I suspect it does not get ridden up the hill out of town at the end of each day!

We regretted not having pre-booked a tour at Salcombe's gin distillery, but did make a point of sampling Salcombe-made ice-cream and sorbet - both excellent. At the Tonic Gallery, we were both impressed by Greg Ramsden's paintings. He has an incredibly ability to capture light and to see the beauty in boatyard scenes. There are two wood sculptures currently at the gallery too, one which, resembling a wing, is particularly beautiful, but I forgot to note down the artists' names.

Back on the streets, we walked right out to the end of town passing a private quay and a row of old boatyard workshops several of which it was good to see are still utilised by boatbuilders. Others are now studios for other creative businesses including Will Bees Bespoke which makes gorgeous classic bags and purses. I was sorely tempted here!

Strolling back to the other end of the waterfront I was taken with the sign above the old public water fountain. Dire consequences are threatened to anyone caught using it to wash fish!

Salcombe has a lot of food sling establishments ranging from bakeries and delicatessens to luxurious seafront restaurants and it took us a while to make up our minds what we wanted to eat and where. Eventually we settled on The Fortescue Inn, a lovely olde worlde pub. I can highly recommend the fish finger sandwiches and Dave enjoyed his locally-smoked salmon sandwiches too.

Looking back over to Salcombe 

We toyed with the idea of taking an hour long estuary cruise, but the wide sandy beaches on the opposite shore looked too inviting so, instead of that, we crossed over on the pedestrian ferry (£1.60 per person each way). The beaches are privately owned, but open to the public and were popular with sunbathers on Friday. A few small children braved the water and I took my shoes off to wander in the surf, but wouldn't have wanted to swim. The water is still cold! We managed to get quite a way up to and through rocks before the water became too deep to continue. In the time it took us to decide whether we should continue, we nearly got ourselves cut off! The tide comes in quickly up the sand although a rock scramble was still an option.

I did like Salcombe as a place to visit. It is a very pretty little town with lots of charm and plenty to do for a day trip or long weekend. I am not sure I would be so keen to actually live there though. It was busy enough on Friday. I can imagine it being so crowded as to be uncomfortable through the summer months and getting in or out by road would be a nightmare!

Our first Trailer Tent experience at Buckfastleigh

Our Raclet Solena 

Do you remember that photo I posted a few weeks ago of the little orange trailer we took possession of on my birthday? Well it's now pitched up on a beautiful Camping And Caravanning Club CS site, The Crib, just outside Buckfastleigh. We are booked in here for four nights to get the hang of camping in a Raclet Solena and so far everything has gone pretty well! It's beautifully green here and, although traffic noise from the main road is pretty constant, it's not too intrusive and we can't see the cars for trees. Our nearest neighbours for the first night were bees and a trio of chickens! We can walk into Buckfastleigh and might go to see the steam railway there on Sunday.

Bee hives and a chicken house 

Obviously we expected that actually getting the tent set up for the first time would be considerably slower for us than it had been for the demo guy at Highbridge Caravans and it certainly was! Raclet Solenas like flat ground and the field at The Crib is sloping so we needed to borrow a plank to level it out! Once we got that sorted though, the rest was fairly straightforward and even hammering in all the awning pegs is much easier with Devon earth than it was with Spanish. I'm very happy with our Solena! The bed, with our mattress topper, is comfortable and there is a surprising amount of room in the folded-out trailer, even before we doubled the space with the awning. I love the large circular windows. They have three layers so can be dark canvas, mesh netting, clear plastic, and combinations of all three. You can see the view from the bedroom window at the end of this post. The trailer floor has a little carpet which looks much more practical than the ones that used to be in our Bailey caravan. There is also a zip-in groundsheet for the awning, but as this field is lush grass we decided not to use it here.

Our new 'toys' are great too! I'm sitting in my HiGear Delaware chair to type this post. It's good as a leisure or dining chair and I love the sturdy flip-up side table. We got one each to go with our folding Quest table. I like the efficient small gas jets on our Kampa Cucina double hob and it sits neatly on our old Outwell cupboard. Also Outwell, but a new acquisition, is our 24 litre EcoCool coolbox. It can run off mains or 12v and has a low power eco setting that actually works well. Apparently it can also be set to provide warmth - keeping cooked food hot - but we haven't tried that yet. Finally we've got our own little portable flushing toilet too! There is a shed bathroom onsite at The Crib, but the portable toilet is ideal  for the middle of the night.

So we're all set for a superb Bank Holiday Weekend and have fingers crossed that the glorious weather lasts until Monday.

The view from the bedroom!

Upcoming live music gigs I'm looking forward to

Since my last gigs post we heard truly amazing music from Rebecca Loebe and Luke Jackson at Starcross, and from Charlie Dore (with choir!) at Kingskerswell. Don't forget Rachel Ries is performing as Her Crooked Heart in Devon This Saturday (the 27th of May). We will be venturing to Kingsbridge to see her. It's essentially a house concert. Contact wheelwrightmark@gmail.com for more details and to reserve your seat!

June 2nd is our next live music gig and this one will definitely be fab as it is Carrie Elkin, a musician we've known for years, together with her husband, Danny Schmidt, whom we have known even longer. Carrie is touring Europe to promote her new album, The Penny Collector, and we will catch her at The Bellows at The Wheelwright Inn which is in Colyford, East Devon. Carrie has an amazing voice and I am keen to hear her new songs. Tickets for this gig are available directly from the venue.

We have a slightly longer gap before two back-to-back gigs in the east of the country. First we are booked to see Phillip Henry and Hannah Martin at Billericay Library - of all places! Gigs in unusual venues seems to be becoming 'a thing' and this Devon folk duo have five (I think) library gigs coming up across Essex. The Billericay date of The Libraries Tour is in the 16th of June and tickets are available through We Got Tickets. Other dates in the same week are at Maldon, Rayleigh, Harwich and Loughton and those four town name links take you to their respective We Got Tickets pages.

Back to Americana music and I don't know much about Jonathan Byrd, but Dave is keen to see him and that is a good enough recommendation for me! But if you want a second opinion, Rich Warren of WFMT in the Chicago Tribune says that Jonathan is “one of the top 50 songwriters of the last 50 years". The UK tour is from the 12th until the 23rd of June and we are going to the Eye gig on June the 17th at a Community Arts Centre venue called The Bank. Tickets for this gig are available directly from the venue and if you struggled to make the checkout work before, it has now been fixed!

So that's our live entertainment for May and June so far. Let me know if you're coming to any of these too and in the meantime, have a scroll through these South West gig listings from WeGotTickets and see if anything else catches your eye!

-->

widget @ surfing-waves.com

Sunflower Seed Milk and Cookies recipes

Sunflower Seed Milk and Flour 

After another superb Kingskerswell gig last night, I am having a quiet cookery day today. We saw Charlie Dore at Kingskerswell Church where she was backed by the Totnes Pop-Up Choir. I love Charlie's music anyway, but the choir made it all the more magical! Take a look at CharlieDore.com for the rest of her tour dates and WorldUnlimited.co.uk for more great live music in South Devon.

Back to the kitchen! I'm cutting down of our dairy intake, partly for personal health reasons and partly for environmental reasons, which got me into trying various nut milks to make our breakfast porridge. Interestingly, in blind taste tests (because I didn't tell him!) Dave actually preferred non-dairy milks and my favourite was almond, but I wasn't so keen on the price. Having seen a few bloggers extolling the pros of homemade nut and seed milks, I decided to give it a go. NestAndGlow.com is a particularly good resource and I eventually settled on their Sunflower Seed Milk as being the best suited to us.

Milk Ingredients
140g sunflower seeds
Water for soaking

4-5 dates (optional)
700ml water

I put the sunflower seeds into a bowl with enough water to well cover them and leave them to soak all day (or overnight). I then drain the seeds, discarding the soaking water.
I put the soaked seeds into a high sided saucepan together with 700ml of fresh water and a few dates for sweetness. The dates are optional, but we both have a sweet tooth here! I use my handheld blender to liquidise the seeds and dates which usually takes a couple of minutes. Of course, if you have a food processor you could use this instead.
When all ingredients are blended I hang a jelly bag over a largish bowl and pour the seed-water mixture through it, squeezing at the end to make sure as little liquid as possible is retained with the seed pulp. This is pretty good exercise for hand strength!
The liquid is the finished milk which I decant into a fridge jug ready for the morning's porridge. It does separate as it stands, but a quick stir-up with a long spoon brings it back together again.

Oat And Date Cookies 

Cookie Ingredients
160g chopped dates
Hot water
1 ripe-ish banana
2 tbsp peanut butter
70g oats
175g sunflower seed pulp

In a great instance of Waste Not Want Not synchronicity it turns out that the leftover sunflower seed pulp from milk-making is a perfect flour substitute in Oat And Date Cookies. Any excuse for cookie baking!

I start to make these by soaking 160g of chopped dates in hot water for 5-10 minutes to soften them. I also set the oven to preheat to 180c although I need to look into whether these cookies would also bake in the slow cooker as I think this would be more economical and energy efficient.

I mash the banana into a large mixing bowl and mix in the peanut butter. I then drain the dates discarding the water and stirring the fruit into the banana mix.

I add the oats and seed pulp and mix everything well together with a wooden spoon. Once there is a sort of dough I use my hands to form it into small balls, lightly flatten them nd place them onto a baking tray. This size batch makes 16-18 cookies. I have found if I flatten them and then place them on a baking tray, they bake without sticking so the tray doesn't need additional greasing or flouring. If I press the cookies onto the tray to flatten them, they do stick!

I bake the cookies on a high oven shelf at 180c for about 15 minutes or until they start to brown on top. I remove the tray from the oven and let them stand for about 5 minutes before transferring them to a wire rack to cool.

Delicious with an afternoon cuppa or as an on-the-go snack!

A river walk along The Templer Way

The River Teign 

We went for a very different type of walk yesterday along a short stretch of The Templer Way from Newton Abbot towards Teignmouth. The whole of this hiking route covers eighteen miles from Haytor on Dartmoor to Teignmouth on the coast tracing the route by which granite was exported from Dartmoor via the unique Haytor Granite Tramway and the Stover Canal. We picked it up from Forde Road in Newton Abbot, parking near the Teignbridge Propellers premises which looks to be making use of old railway buildings. Forde Road has parking restrictions on weekdays, but not at weekends.

Early on we crossed Aller Brook where there is a small nature reserve sandwiched between the A380 and the industrial estate. A noticeboard there had information about regular events including birdspotting walk and maintenance parties so if you are local and want to get involved, take a wander down there to check the poster. I couldn't find it reproduced online so if anyone knows of a link, please Comment below.

Deciding on this walk from looking at our Ordnance Survey map of the area meant we didn't really know what to expect and our imaginings of a standard footpath alongside a river were only correct for about ten minutes after which we were confronted with this signpost:

As luck would have it, the tide was about as low as it was possible to get so we had plenty of time to complete our five miles to Coombe Cellars pub and back. However the Way is literally along the edge of the river so is covered by water at high tide! Much of this part of the route is over mossy shingle so is slippery under foot and I was frequently glad of my trusty boots and to borrow one of Dave's hiking poles to aid my balance. It's a beautiful walk with impressive views across the river and estuary. We saw a white heron and a gaggle of twenty-one swans as well as geese and seagulls.

The Way was almost completely flat which made a nice change from the more usual Devon undulations although this didn't mean it was easy walking. We both felt like we had more of a workout than the two hours and twenty minutes timespan would suggest! Bizarre sights such as trees with their trunks washed pale by the tide or with seaweed flung into their branches added interest and keeping an eye on the high tide line showed us that walkers really could get themselves stranded along here if they weren't careful! Drawing near to our turn-round point, the Teign widened considerably making its two channels look like tiny threads of streams in the midst of the muddy silt.

Exploring Cockington Country Park, Torquay

Dave found us a beautiful walk yesterday and I am glad we went straight out in the sunshine rather than leaving it until today when the rain would have put us off and the mist obscured all our views. We began at Nut Bush Lane which is right on the edge of Torquay and so always reminds me of the Tina Turner song Nutbush City Limits. An influence on the town planners? There is space to park three or four cars and we got lucky.

Our path led away behind the red dog waste bin which seemed sadly redundant as I noticed a couple of instances of dog walkers preferring to bag their animal's crap and then hang the bags from trees. Seriously - what is the point of that? Especially less than fifty yards from a bin. Sometimes I despair of people!

Fortunately such ugliness wasn't typical of our afternoon and we were soon walking through pretty green woodland and emerging onto open downland from where we had gorgeous views across valleys and out to sea. The existence of Cockington Country Park protects the agricultural and natural environment from house building - for the time being at least - and we felt lucky to have this expansive green space so close to our home. We intended to follow the John Musgrave Trail into Cockington village, but it is only sporadically signposted so we don't know if we were exactly on course all the time. There is a bewildering choice of footpaths, cycle routes and bridlepaths converging on Cockington. Does anyone know if a definitive map is available? The John Musgrave Trail was created by the Torbay Coast and Countryside Trust in partnership with the Ramblers Association, from a legacy left by John Musgrove who was a keen walker. It opened in 2006 and extends some thirty-five miles around Torbay. We have a lot more of it still to discover!

Instead of continuing across Torbay, our furthest outward point was around Scadson Woods which I think, at the moment, must be the best destination for wild garlic. The woods had their fair share of bluebells too, but the white garlic flowers stole the show. Their scent was incredible as well.

I was pleased to see that all the paths we walked were well-trodden, cycled and ridden. The more people who use an area such as this, the more likely it is to preserved for the purpose. The paths closest to Cockington Craft Centre and the village would be the easiest for disabled access, but even further afield I think they would be acceptable for pushchairs and Tramper mobility scooters as long as the frequent short-but-steep gradients could be overcome.

I knew we were close to the estate's centre when we began to spot rhododendrons through the trees and then saw the restored Gamekeeper's Cottage. We had visited here last summer so made our way directly to the Cafe for a cup of tea and generous slice of Red Velvet cake. It was getting late in the afternoon so we didn't linger long before continuing our circuit back towards Nut Bush Lane. I did notice a couple of artworks outside the Cafe that are part of a Sculpture Trail. The works are there until the 10th of September and I intend to return to see the whole Trail. I am also tempted by the monthly Food And Craft Market which takes place on the last Sunday of each month and features locally farmed foods and unique handmade crafts. The next Market is on the 28th of May.

Exploring Torbay's UNESCO Geopark - Hope's Nose

Hope's Nose, Torquay 

Often when on walks Dave and I find ourselves wishing for the guidance of a pop-up Expert - as happens on the TV programme Coast for example. Whenever an interesting historical ruin or geological feature hoves into view, the presenter is always greeted by someone who can explain the site. In contrast we make observations, wonder about it and invent a plausible explanation, but usually walk away absolutely none the wiser. This seems especially true in the UK. French and Spanish regional councils seem far more proactive at putting up explanatory signs - often multilingual - as part of walking tourist routes. It's a cheap way to attract visitors after all.

However, on a Torquay walk from our home yesterday, I was delighted to not only visit an important geological site, but also to be given lots of clear information about what we could see! I didn't realise until we moved here that the English Riviera is designated a UNESCO Global Geopark because of the extensive geological landscape: "A landscape untouched by glaciation, revealing stories unseen elsewhere in the world. Stories of tropical seas and scorching deserts, raised beaches and drowned forests, hippopotami and mammoth, straight-tusked elephant and sabre-toothed tiger, cave bear and earliest man." There's an incredible story to be discovered here, understandable even for a geology novice like me, and I am excited to learn more.

If you are around Torbay at the end of May and beginning of June this year - the half-term holiday week - check out the range of events being put on in Torquay, Paignton and Brixham. There's a calendar on the Geopark Website. Entertainment ranges from a Sculpture Trail at Cockington to prehistoric modelling at Brixham, cookery at Occombe Farm to street art fossils at Torre Abbey. Most events look to be kid-focused.

Yesterday we visited the charmingly named Hope's Nose which is within a half hour's walk from our flat and visitable all year round. If you go there yourself make sure to pause by the noticeboard at the roadside. I took photos of the half dozen or so geological sights which include different eras of ancient limestone and sandstone rocks as well as layers of fossils and a raised beach. It's all things that I would be unlikely to identify alone, but the clear photographs on the board give a clear indication of what to look out for. There's also beautiful views out to sea.

I had a great birthday!

Trying to be a
fashion blogger!

Thank you to everyone for your kind birthday wishes and greetings yesterday. I had a wonderful day, albeit an exhausting one!

Dave got me this OEX Roq 2-Layer Women's Waterproof Jacket I wanted from Go Outdoors. It's amazingly lightweight and rolls down to take up almost no space, especially compared to my decade-old Regatta coat which needed to be far thicker to do the same job. I was surprised at how much fabric technology has advanced. I love the tailored style and fit of the OEX Roq. The hood is snug, but doesn't obscure much of my vision which I appreciate as some hoods make me feel claustrophobic! The jacket is supposed to be waterproof, windproof and breathable too, but I haven't tried it out in bad weather yet. Fingers crossed it does what it's label says it will!

New shoes 

My sister got me these blue plimsolls from White Stuff. They're comfy and will be perfect for summer camping trips which is ideal as we spent most of yesterday visiting Highbridge Caravans to pick up our super new-to-us trailer tent, wandering around their shop and then round Go Outdoors to buy our essential camping gear from their extensive range!

Having left our caravan in Spanish storage this year, we soon realised we had nothing to camp in when zooming around the UK this summer. Dave leapt into research mode and a couple of weeks ago we viewed and put a deposit on a Raclet Solena Trailer Tent at Highbridge. It's so cute and, being French, is rather stylish too - well, I think so anyway! Yesterday was our Official Handover which was very exciting. We were shown how to erect the trailer tent and awning, and how to pack it all away again. Mike, who was demonstrating, was really helpful and even, together with Dave, pushed the Solena from the far end of the site to the car park for us! I'll post photos when we take it on its first trip away - hopefully very soon, but in the meantime here's what it looks like all folded away. Tiny!

Our new Raclet Solena trailer tent 

Superb live music at Starcross Church - Rebecca Loebe & Luke Jackson

I love that live music gigs around here are performed in churches, active ones at that. Is it a particularly South Devon thing? The only comparable space I remember from Sussex was All Saints in Lewes, but it doesn't have quite the same vibe. As of Saturday night we have a new venue to add to our music roster, St Paul's in Starcross which is near to Exeter. It's about 40 minutes from Torquay (or closer to 45 if you get turned around in the Starcross one way system when leaving!).

Our gig was a co-hosted event with Alison and Tim of St Paul's running a well-stocked and very reasonably priced bar that, I happily noticed, had a good selection of soft drinks as well as wine and beers. There wasn't any cake - we've been spoilt by Kingskerswell! - but I did spot and buy a half dozen of Charlotte's Eggs for £1. I assume Charlotte is the name of a chicken? The music itself was organised by Greg Hancock of Exeter Secret Gigs. A musician himself, he is also a great Luke Jackson fan and had apparently leapt at the chance to be a part of Luke's current short tour with Austin singer-songwriter, Rebecca Loebe. There's still another six opportunities to see the tour this week and you can find venues and ticket links towards the end of this post, just before the YouTube of their stunning finale to the Starcross gig.

The 'stage' at Starcross 

Both Rebecca and Luke are accomplished singer-songwriters independently and, had we simply heard each of them do their sets we would have gone away happy. However, the four songs they sang together took the gig into a whole other dimension. Those harmonies! Outstanding and particularly gorgeous with the church acoustics. We semi-joked with Rebecca after the gig that they need to record their own Raising Sand-type album together although perhaps their music could be described as closer to that of Civil Wars. Both Dave and I felt very lucky to have stumbled across such talent in such a beautiful intimate venue.

You can catch Rebecca Loebe and Luke Jackson at:
May 2, St Margaret's Hall, Bradford-on-Avon, BUY TICKETS
May 3, Cecil Sharp House, London, BUY TICKETS
May 4, The Hopyard, Forest Row, BUY TICKETS
May 5, The Stables, Milton Keynes, BUY TICKETS
May 6, Tower Of Song, Birmingham, BUY TICKETS
May 7, The Wee Gig, Abington, Lanarkshire, BUY TICKETS